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They all believe in our cause. Cause means bringing music to Kashmir, that’s all. We didn’t want anything else.
CNN-IBN: You said before the concert that you did not chose Kashmir but that Kashmir chose you. Even though many Kashmiris were opposed to the concert!
Zubin Mehta: Kashmir is a land of beauty that has always chosen me. Kashmir, as a land of aesthetics quality, has no match in the world. There is not one person in the subcontinent who doesn’t love this area, myself included, that’s why I meant that Kashmir chose me. Kashmir has chosen me all my life.
CNN-IBN: Many who have visited Kashmir might feel that, but for those inside the Valley, many did not choose you. Did that hurt?
Zubin Mehta: I don’t think that they quite understood and I hope if they see this concert repeated on television, may be they will not understand, but they will be inspired because we came here to fulfil this dream of ours -- to inspire people, to sit together, to smile at each other, that’s all.
CNN-IBN: Ambassador Steiner, Zubin Mehta is saying that performing in Kashmir has been a childhood dream for him, ever since you announced that this was what you were planning to do, there has been much criticism coming from inside Kashmir, but also from other parts of country. Many have said that this is not the right...
Ambassador Steiner: No, I think it was the perfect time. As many as 2,700 people showed up, two thirds of them were Kashmiris. They showed up. We were overwhelmed by the reactions, the smiling faces; I think it was a great success for Kashmir. So I think we achieved what we wanted to achieve -- to bring music to Kashmi...
CNN-IBN: Zubin Mehta, you are not stranger to conflict in the place you perform. You have even performed -- if I may quote you – when bullets flew?
Zubin Mehta: Yes, that is right because as musicians, it is our duty to not only perform in concerts, which is our life, but we have to go out whenever possible and do something to bring people together.
Well this is what music does and I am not talking only about classical music. Ravi Shankarji went all over the world. Nobody understood anything about Indian music in the beginning, but they were in Carnegie Hall till 2 am, they wouldn’t leave the hall. This is the power of the music.
CNN-IBN: Zubin, even while you were busy in rehearsals at Shalimar Bagh in Srinagar, there was tension in other parts of valley. At any point, did you rethink the visit to Kashmir? After all, it isn’t just about the concert. There is also the question of the safety of every member of your orchestra.
Zubin Mehta: I am used to performing with the orchestras of different continents. This orchestra is from Munich. When I went to Munich to rehearse with them, they had no sense of fear. Nobody got up and said, ‘Look where are you taking us, to a semi war-zone’. Nobody said a word. And you know, they read a lot on the in...
CNN-IBN: And of course you promised to bring them back and perform in a larger environment.
Zubin Mehta: Well, I’ll bring them anytime, anytime Kashmir wants me. I'll come back.
CNN-IBN: Because one of the criticism has been that this was a restricted performance, that you didn’t allow as many Kashmiris in and that it was not possible for an average music lover to even come close to the concert area.
Zubin Mehta: Well, you know, this is not Mumbai. In Mumbai we have thousand two hundred places for spectators in the hall.
Yesterday, we let in 700 people already before the concert. The construction of Shalimar Bagh is such that if one sits at the back, he/she wouldn’t have seen a thing, so we have to restrict the number of spectators from that aspect. People came free of charge, they were chosen by the Kashmir government and the German e...
CNN-IBN: Now that this is all over, do you have a message for those who opposed you?
Zubin Mehta: I am not involved in Kashmiri politics. I have to be a little bit above them, I have come with my music. I give my message -- let the healing start with the first note in this troubled land.
CNN-IBN: Zubin, you are going on to other concerts in the rest of the country. How does it feel every time you touch down in India, when you come back?
Zubin Mehta: Every time when I come back to Bombay, I feel as if I had never left.
CNN-IBN: Even so, in India, when you look at the community for western music, it isn’t perhaps what your father would have wanted, perhaps what you would have wanted. Does it disappoint you that the community for western classical music has still not grown to that extent in India?
Zubin Mehta: Well it is growing in Bombay. Now they have an orchestra in Bombay that has a public. Our foundation there has over 200 children studying classical music, there is something positive coming out. Don’t forget that India is the land of music. India has its own music. Every corner of this country has its own ...
Zubin Mehta: I think he would have been afraid by all the opposition, but he would have been well pleased with the results. And I am sorry he was not on stage to perform with me.
CNN-IBN: Zubin, we saw you smile at points in that concert. What was really your moment of the night there?
Zubin Mehta: Well when we first finished the piece with the Kashmiris, I was very proud then. They were cooperative from the beginning; they could speak our musical language but we couldn’t speak theirs. But music brought us together and believe me, we had no problem with the rehearsals. The young composer Sapore had t...
This paper examines the effects and implications of the ‘public use’ requirement for the exercise of eminent domain in the United States. It is part of an ongoing inquiry the consequences of eminent domain in the United States. The first part examines the history of the public use requirement, both how the doctrine has...
Originally published by Environmental Law, 11 Envtl. L. 1 (1980).
Errol E. Meidinger, The "Public Uses" of Eminent Domain: History and Policy, 11 Envtl. L. 1 (1980).
Bush’s foundation sounds eerily like the hard-right American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which provides legislation templates for conservative state lawmakers. In fact, ALEC and FEE have strong connections.
At least 36 states have already adopted portions of FEE’s agenda. With the help of the Republican-controlled Senate, FEE now hopes to make inroads in Washington.
That’s not inherently objectionable. But those in power have the responsibility to consider the effectiveness of programs they propose. When legislators act as remote-controlled robots for any special interest group, it doesn’t serve the public’s interest.
Reports out of Florida indicate that education reforms enacted when Bush was governor showed short-term gains in some areas, but were not generally effective. For example, Bush left an expansive achievement gap for minority students that the Florida Board of Education says is too big to close over the next six-year per...
As a result, the state education board has abandoned the Bush policies, according to the Palm Beach Post. Other reports have revealed that Florida’s gains came from other factors, perhaps in spite of the Bush mandates.
For example, a constitutional amendment to limit class sizes won approval from Florida voters in 2002. Also, the Bush policies coincided with the pre-recession housing boom, pushing that state’s spending on education up 22 percent from 2001 to 2007.
Studies conducted by Harvard University researchers have shown that the third-grade hold-back program had imperceptible long-term benefit, and no incremental improvement in math or reading scores occurred among the low-income students who got vouchers to attend private schools.
None of that means education reform is unnecessary in Washington. Our schools need to embrace innovation, and no idea should be superficially discarded.
By the same measure, no idea should be accepted on face value.
Washington’s lawmakers should not bow at the agenda of Jeb Bush, FEE, ALEC or the Washington Education Association or any other special interest when considering education reforms.
Lawmakers and the governor should look behind the legislative templates and the talking points the lobbyists provide, to see what actually works and which best practices and programs are relevant to our state’s unique circumstances.
Next month, the World Chess Championship will be played in New York City between the reigning champ, 25-year-old Magnus Carlsen, and 26-year-old Sergey Karjakin, who still holds the record as the youngest person to become a grandmaster at the age of 12. At stake? A prize pool of over $2 million dollars.
Not bad for a game that's over 1,500 years old.
It was nearly 20 years ago that Garry Kasparov, the then World Champion of Chess and by consensus the dominant player in the world at the time, resigned in game 6 of his famous match versus IBM's Deep Blue. The "Man vs. Machine" contest had ended in victory for the machine. And since then, computers have only gotten be...
You might think computer dominance would be the beginning of the end of chess, but you'd be wrong. Chess is undergoing something of a renaissance, and that's thanks to -- not in spite of -- the ability of computers to beat the toughest human opponents.
"Cars can outrace humans but humans still run against each other," Chess Grandmaster Maurice Ashley told me. "I think people are thrilled to watch humans play each other. Part of that thrill is the errors -- it's not about perfection. It's about how to come back from mistakes."
To avoid those mistakes, people are taking advantage of the power of computers to train them to play better chess. And online, computers can match players with players who are roughly at their level -- making games more competitive. One of the leading online chess sites, Chess.com, has over 15 million players who've pl...
Chess.com offers more than just a place to meet other chess players. It includes lessons on playing taught by Masters, drills, resources to explore all aspects of chess, and more. A number of world-class players play on the site -- both for fun and the chance to win some money. The site is currently hosting a "Blitz Ba...
Next month is the aforementioned World Chess Championship -- which over 10 million people watched online last year. This year, the 12 round championship match between defending champ Magnus Carlsen and challenger Sergey Karjakin will be broadcast in 360-degree virtual reality, to give people around the world the feelin...
This strong tech presence is a testament to how the internet has changed the game of chess in the years since Deep Blue beat Garry Kasparov. "Computers have changed the game," says Ashley.
For one thing, computers have created a younger generation of Masters. Access to libraries worth of information at the touch of a button has enabled some kids to become stronger players years earlier than was previously possible.
Just ask Fabiano Caruana, who at age 24 is the current United States Chess Champion, and who became a Grandmaster at the age of 14.
"In some ways the players of the past had a huge disadvantage," he said. "They would have to do a lot of research. These days you can get so much more information. I would say that’s one of the reasons Chess is becoming so much younger. Players are stronger at a younger age."
But while computers have helped train a new generation of chess masters, most people still enjoy the simple pleasure of playing across a board from another person. Caruana lives in St. Louis, MO, which is home to one of the largest chess clubs in the world -- the Saint Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center. The club i...
Despite its cachet, the club itself is only 9-years-old and first opened to the public in July 2008. It was founded with funding from Rex Sinquefield (a FORBES Opinion writer) through his charitable foundation. The Chess Club has also created an invitation-only Chess Tournament, the Sinquefield Cup, which is part of th...
The Club isn't just for Grandmasters, though. It hosts events and classes for people of all skill levels and ages. One of its most popular recurring events, club manager Ryan Chester told me, is a monthly "ladies night" -- which encourages women to participate in what has typically been a game for men. Many of the wome...
"Women players are more cutthroat," said Chester. "They play to win, not draw."
If you happen to be in St. Louis visiting the Chess Club, do yourself a favor and take the time to go across the street, too. There you'll find the World Chess Hall of Fame. This three-story building features not only the expected photos and bios of members of the World Chess Hall of Fame, but also features a constantl...
Over 60,000 people have visited the World Chess Hall of Fame, and this year is a special one, with two anniversaries. The first is the 30-year anniversary of its founding in 1986. The second is its five-year anniversary since moving to its current location in St. Louis. That location is a building of over 15,000 square...
It's an interest that Tony Rich, executive director of the St. Louis Chess Club, expects to keep growing.
"We've gotten to a time now where it's OK to be smart," Rich said. "Chess could be a viable career path leading to fame and fortune, and that's getting kids more interested and sticking with it."
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Mass, re-upped his demand for President Donald Trump’s tax returns Saturday, telling IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig in a letter he has 10 days to turn over the records.
“Please know that, if you fail to comply, your failure will be interpreted as a denial of my request,” Neal wrote to Rettig three days after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the administration would miss Neal’s original April 10 deadline as he consulted with the Department of Justice.
In the two-page letter, Neal, who set an April 23 deadline, argued the IRS has an “unambiguous legal obligation" to turn over the president’s returns under section 6103 of the tax code, which states that the treasury secretary “shall furnish” a request from the congressional committees with tax oversight.
The next step would likely be a subpoena from Neal or a lawsuit, Politco and The Washington Post reported.
Neal’s letter to Rettig comes a day after House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, said he would subpoena a decade’s worth of Trump’s financial records from an accounting firm linked to the president.
Dimensions: 71W x 74L in.. Polyester material. Spot clean recommended. 12 button holes for hook placement. Choose from available shades of green. Made in the USA. Add a lucky look to your bathroom with the E by Design Lucky Polyester Shower Curtain thanks to its four-leaf clover design. This shower curtain is available...
While Malaney comes close to pulling off the impossible, he can never quite get it. Stewart estimates he’s landed about 20 times, but he “just hits the ground like a sack of potatoes” upon impact. Malaney and Stewart have been at the same spot for almost four hours trying to get a clip that will live for only a couple ...
Such is the life of a self-proclaimed “skateboard video maker,” where it’s more common to spend an entire day out filming and not get anything. Stewart shows what goes into the making of the types of skate videos he has become famous for. Watch our behind the scenes mini-doc of the making of a jaw-dropping skate video ...
Author Brit Bennett made a name for herself with a 2014 piece she wrote for Jezebel.
Growing up, author Brit Bennett attended a black protestant church with her father and separately, a mostly white, Catholic church with her mother, who is also black.
"I had these very different cultural experiences," she said. "So, I think I’ve always been interested in church as a space that can be so culturally different, even when people are professing to believe the same thing."
Bennett continues exploring how faith is shaped by the culture in her debut novel, "The Mothers." The book, which earned a spot on the New York Times Bestseller list after its release in October, follows a 17-year-old girl's secret that tears through her church, a black congregation in Southern California.
Bennett has witnessed the power of religion through her mother, who grew up in a sharecropping family in Louisiana. To practice their Catholic faith during the Jim Crow period, their only option was attending a segregated church.
"The church was shaped like a cross," Bennett said, "and the black people had to sit in the outer arms of the cross so that the priest didn’t have to look at you when he was speaking."
Bennett's father also experienced poverty as a child in Los Angeles. Like Bennett's mother, he was able to escape his circumstances. He eventually became a prosecutor in a district attorney's office.
While her parents were able to escape their circumstances, Bennett — who earned degrees from Stanford and the University of Michigan — has never felt entirely secure.
"[Growing] up as a kid who was one generation out of poverty," she said, "you're so aware of how precarious your situation is and how close you can be to slipping back.
"My parents worked extremely hard to put me in a position where I could do something like write this book."
Writing "The Mothers" was also made possible by a breakout essay Bennett published in 2014. After prosecutors failed to indict police officers who killed Michael Brown, Eric Garner and other black men, she wrote an article called, "I Don't Know What to Do with Good White People," for the feminist site, Jezebel.
The article, which went viral, landed her an agent and led to her publishing deal. But Bennett, a graduate student in fiction at the time, wasn't after literary stardom — she was simply processing her emotions over the lack of charges for these deaths.
"I think we often think about racism is just a feeling people have in their hearts," she said, whereas "racists are just bad people. But what about good people who are not intending to be racist or do these terrible, violent things?"
(CNN) — No carry-on luggage? No problem.
American Airlines may soon allow customers without carry-on luggage to board right after first class and elite status passengers — and before other coach customers hauling luggage into the passenger cabin.
The airline has been quietly testing the program for several weeks to positive response at Dulles International Airport, Baltimore Washington International Airport, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, said an American spokeswoman.
“This boarding test is one more example of the progress we’re making to provide our customers with an exceptional travel experience as we leverage innovation to evaluate and improve every step of the customer journey,” said American spokeswoman Andrea Huguely, in a statement.
“Should we decide to modify our regular boarding process, we will be informing our people and our customers first,” she said.
The policy makes sense to travel blogger John DiScala of JohnnyJet.com, who first noticed and tweeted about the American test program during the boarding of a Chicago flight at the Fort Lauderdale airport last week.
American was the first airline to charge a checked bag fee in 2008. But it’s not the first airline to give priority to passengers boarding bag-free.
Alaska Airlines has been offering early boarding for passengers with no carry-ons since October 2011. “We don’t offer this on every flight, but do offer this on our fuller flights,” said airline spokeswoman Bobbie Egan, via e-mail. Those passengers get to board after travelers needing assistance or traveling with child...
In addition to allowing its frequent fliers and purchasers of premium seats to board first, Frontier Airlines also boards customers without carry-on luggage ahead of burdened passengers.
American carriers collected $2.6 billion in baggage fees in the first three-quarters of 2012, according to Department of Transportation figures.
It appears Seahawks cornerback Brandon Browner won't have to spend his time in street clothes on the sideline anymore.
Former Seattle Seahawks cornerback Brandon Browner tweeted Tuesday that he was reinstated by the NFL following his suspension in December for violating the league’s policy on substance abuse.
Browner announced the news via a lengthy statement on his Twitter page. Browner was suspended indefinitely without pay by the league on Dec. 18. The reinstatement will make Browner a free agent as his contract with the Seahawks ended after this season.
Browner’s agent, Peter Schaffer, also confirmed the reinstatement to The Associated Press.
The suspension was the second in two seasons for Browner. He was suspended four games last season for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances. He was the second Seahawks player to be suspended for violating the substance abuse policy during the 2013 season, along with fellow cornerback Walter ...
From the start, Browner did not agree with the length of the suspension.
Browner was in his third season with the Seahawks when the suspension came down. He started all 26 games he played for the Seahawks and had 19 tackles, one interception and 10 passes defensed this season. He was a Pro Bowl selection in 2011 when he had 23 passes defensed and six interceptions, but had not been able to ...
Clickspring Design is an internationally acclaimed scenic design firm based in New York City and headed by Erik Ulfers.
The company’s international creative practice is collaborative and multidisciplinary, supported by a team of designers, artists, architects, strategists and media specialists.

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